Sisters on path to meet in final

Serena would face Venus Williams if they win semifinals

Associated Press

Published 9:53 pm, Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth

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Venus Williams, left, and Serena Williams of the U.S speak during their women's doubles match against Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic on day nine of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Tuesday, July 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) ORG XMIT: WIM282 less

Venus Williams, left, and Serena Williams of the U.S speak during their women's doubles match against Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic on day nine of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships ... more

After getting to her first Wimbledon semifinal since 2009, and first at any Grand Slam tournament since a year later, she was asked what she learned in recent times, while dealing with an energy-sapping disease and a series of earlier-than-usual exits from majors.

"It's hard to say just one lesson," she began. "It's easy to be afraid; you have to let fear go. Another lesson is you just have to believe in yourself. You just have to. There's no way around it. You've got to believe in yourself. No matter how things are stacked against you, you just have to, every time."

Williams never lost that belief, the self-confidence that she still could compete at the highest level, the certainty that it made no sense to give up, to retire from the tour.

"The good part is, I always felt like I had the game. This is always a plus, when you know you have the game," said Williams, who owns seven Grand Slam titles, including five at the All England Club, but none since 2008. "So you just have to keep working until things fall into place."

At age 36, they have.

On Friday at Wimbledon, Williams will meet No. 4-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany for a berth in the final. Kerber has won three of their previous five matchups.

The American is the oldest woman to participate in a major semifinal since Martina Navratilova did it at Wimbledon in 1994 at age 37.

Serena is bidding for her seventh Wimbledon championship and, of even more significance, her 22nd Grand Slam trophy overall, which would equal Steffi Graf for the most in the Open era (Margaret Court holds the all-time mark of 24).

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If both win Thursday, they would play each other on Saturday in what would be their ninth meeting in a Grand Slam final and fifth at Wimbledon.

For Serena, it would mean she's participated in the past three major title matches, seven of the past eight. For Venus, it would be her first Grand Slam final since 2009, when she lost at Wimbledon to Serena.